Professional baseball team SSG Landers has signed Venezuelan right-handed pitcher Pedro Avila (29) as their new foreign player.
SSG announced on Wednesday (July 8) that they have signed Avila for a total of $400,000 (an annual salary of $380,000 and $20,000 in options). The club stated, "We determined that he is a resource who can strengthen our current starting rotation, based on a comprehensive review of his extensive starting experience, stable ability to pitch deep into games, and the fact that he has been active in competitive play until recently."
SSG, which had been struggling due to the collapse of its foreign pitching staff, chose Avila for his experience in both Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to reinforce the starting rotation.
Avila, who stands 180 cm tall and weighs 95 kg, throws a fastball that averages over 150 km/h and reaches a top speed of 156 km/h.
He also utilizes a variety of breaking balls, including a cutter, curveball, changeup, and splitter.
After joining the Washington Nationals in 2014, Avila made his big league debut with the San Diego Padres in 2019.
In his MLB career, he appeared in 72 games, pitching 146⅓ innings with a record of 8 wins, 4 losses, 1 hold, and 1 save, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.51.
In the minor leagues, he made 145 starts out of 189 total appearances, pitching 742.2 innings.
In 2025, he played for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, where he pitched 82.1 innings across 15 games, recording 7 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 4.04.
This season, he pitched 60 innings for the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, recording 3 wins, 7 losses, and an ERA of 7.50.
"I am very happy to become a member of SSG," Avila said. "I will show good performance through this new challenge and do my best to contribute to the team's victories."
(Photo: Courtesy of SSG Landers, Yonhap News)